The International Institute of Information Technology , Hyderabad (IIITHyderabad) awarded highest number of degrees at its 16th convocation ceremony , with 473 students graduating this year. A record number of 84 research students, including 16 PhD scholars, too, were awarded degrees on Saturday .

Of the 473 graduating students, 134 were awarded degrees in undergraduate courses, 231 in post-graduate courses and 108 in master of science in information technology .

During the ceremony , GV Prasad, chief operating officer of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, stressed on the need to have more entrepreneurs in the country and urged graduating students to fight odds in building successful companies.

Prasad traced back the journey of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, as he shared how the company rose from being a supplier to a multinational pharmaceutical company . “When Kallam Anji Reddy started the business, the interest on bank loans, exporting and importing medicines was expensive. However, with strong workforce, we were able to face the challenges,“ said Prasad.

Prasad shared how despite
being a multinational firm, even Dr Reddy's Laboratories has faced issues in recruiting the best hands in the market.“Disruptions of IT sector in recruiting the best people are prevalent in other sectors too.While potential candidates have ample of job options, companies face severe challenges in recruiting the best people,“ said Prasad.

IIIT-Hyderabad produced 373 papers in top conferences and journals this year. “One PhD student received Google fellowship last year. In all about 52 of our PhD students have external competitive fellowships from TCS, Google, Microsoft Research, IBM, Intel, Visvesvaraya etc.,“ said PJ Narayanan, director of IIIT-Hyderabad.

The ceremony saw students dressed in traditional attire, as mandated by the institute with men wearing kurtas while women attended the event in saree or salwar kameez.